Pool B preview: England v Scotland
Ancient rivals England and Scotland will face each other on neutral ground for the first time in their pivotal World Cup Pool B clash at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
The two teams contested the first-ever rugby Test international in Edinburgh in 1871, but rarely has so much been at stake in the long history of their rivalry as there is in this World Cup face-off which should determine which of the sides goes on to the quarterfinal.
England are unbeaten at the tournament so far, winning all three of their games up to this point, but they have not been completely convincing and will have to be at the top of their game if they are to beat a highly motivated Scottish outfit that will be desperate to get one over the ‘auld enemy’.
With Argentina odds on to get the qualifying points they need against Georgia the following day, it is either England or Scotland who will likely be starting to pack their bags for the journey home after they meet.
Following the agonising 13-12 loss to Argentina last weekend, the Scots must win, and win handsomely, if they want to maintain their record of always reaching the quarterfinals of rugby’s top competition.
The reward for a Scotland upset win would probably be a matchup against the All Blacks back at Eden Park on October 9.
England will be looking for a fourth straight win to set up a quarterfinal match with France and they have already made it clear no mercy will be shown to the Scots.
The two sides have only met once before in the World Cup when England won 9-6 in the semifinals of the 1991 tournament.
Scotland’s players know they have to produce the collective performance of a lifetime if they are to have any chance of ruining England’s hopes of a second World Cup victory.
“There’s everything to play for. They’ll be coming out fighting and it’s a classic Scotland-England derby – here we go again,” said Sean Lamont who switches from the wing to inside centre.
“We know the job we need to do, but it’s still a lot of pressure. None of the boys are ready to go home yet. None of them. It’s not a pile of points. Eight points, we need, it’s not a massive difference.
“England can leak tries and they’ve shown in this tournament that they can concede, so there’s no reason why we can’t get a few points against them,” he added confidently.
Scotland coach Andy Robinson, who formerly coached England, has brought in six new players for the match with the captaincy reverting to lock Alastair Kellock, who missed out on the Argentina game.
Also back in are Joe Ansbro, who lines up with Lamont at centre and tighthead prop Euan Murray who was not considered for the Pumas game as he opts not to play on Sundays due to his religious beliefs.
Mike Blair gets the start at scrumhalf in place of Rory Lawson, who was captain against Argentina, Simon Danielli comes in on the wing in place of Lamont and Richie Vernon is at No.8 in place of Kelly Brown.
England show three changes to the side that overwhelmed Romania 67-3 in their last match.
Matt Stevens, Courtney Lawes and Delon Armitage come in for Alex Corbisiero, Tom Palmer and Mark Cueto. The first two drop to the bench and Cueto has been left out of the match-day 22.
Lawes is back in the side at lock after serving a two-match ban for kneeing an opponent in the win over Argentina.
“Courtney’s playing very well. He hasn’t played for two weeks but we’re very comfortable with having him in the team,” Johnson said.
“We’re reasonably healthy which is great at this point in the tournament and we thought this was the right team.”
Johnson experienced the special atmosphere of England-Scotland games many times himself as a player and he says he knows exactly what to expect from the Scots.
“It’s the oldest international in the world. There’s a lot of history there, you grow up watching the game,” he said.
“But that’s all for the build-up in the exterior. For us, it’s about going out and playing well, doesn’t matter if it’s Scotland or whoever it may be, you’ve just got to go out and perform
“If we get it wrong there’s a chance we could be sitting at home by Tuesday,” he warned.
Players to Watch:
For England: Livewire scrumhalf Ben Youngs will keep the Scottish defenders on their toes while all of the attention will be on Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton in the backline. Both have been in good try-scoring form at the tournament and they will be hoping to torment the Scots out wide. Up front Matt Stevens will have a major task on his hands filling the considerable boots of the injured Andrew Sheridan, while Courtney Lawes is sure to make an impact by any means necessary.
For Scotland: Ruaridh Jackson was impressive against Argentina last week and the Scottish flyhalf will need to get the better of English legend Jonny Wilkinson to get his team on the front foot. Big lock Richie Gray will stoke things up in the engine room while the powerful Euan Murray will look to dominate at scrum-time.
Head to Head: Stevens’s duel with Murray in the scrums will be crucial to getting their respective teams going forward while the battle for the ball on the ground will also be decisive. England have given away plenty of penalties at the breakdown at the World Cup and Scotalnd will be hoping that flanks Ally Strokosch and John Barclay can make life difficult for England captain Lewis Moody and his fellow loose forwards at the tackle area. The halfback battle will also be pivotal with the experience of Mike Blair up against the exuberance of the explosive Youngs at scrumhalf and Jackson set to be tested by the wiles of Wilkinson.
Previous Results:
2011: England won 22-16 in London
2010: Drew 15-15 in Edinburgh
2009: England won 26-12 in London
2008: Scotland won 15-9 in Edinburgh
2007: England won 42-20 in London
2006: Scotland won 18-12 in Edinburgh
2005: England won 43-22 in London
2004: England won 35-13 in Edinburgh
2003: England won 40-9 in London
2002: England won 29-3 in Edinburgh
2001: England won 43-3 in London
Prediction: Scotland will fight for their lives but ultimately come up just short. England to win by less than seven points.
The teams:
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Delon Armitage, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 James Haskell, 7 Lewis Moody (captain), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Matt Stevens.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Matt Banahan.
Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Max Evans, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 John Barclay, 6 Ally Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock (captain), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Ross Rennie, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Nick de Luca.
Date: Saturday, October 1
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 20.30 (07.30 GMT)
Expected weather: Fine spells with a few showers. Max 16 C°, Min 12 C°
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Jérôme Garces (France)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
